Six thousand and seventy two
by WizIsBored
Summary: Dr Whitewood went public with her 'discovery' as soon as the DNA results came through. The reaction from the rest of the world was worse than I could have imagined. We couldn't get away fast enough, we didn't realize they'd find us so easily...
1. Just another day

"Jana."

I don't pay any attention to her.

"Jana, stop."

I can see red spots on the wall.

"Jana, yer bleedin'. You split yer knuckles again."

I keep pounding my fists on the concrete, ignoring her. I gotta get it all out of my system now; if a guard sees me like this and thinks I have marwol then I'll be in some deep shit.

I'm starting to tire, the pain in my fists that had been numbed by rage returning. Turning away from the wall, I flop down onto the glorified gym mat that's all we've been given for beds. Apparently this place was populated on short notice and they didn't have time to furnish it properly. Utter bullshit, in my opinion, but that's nothing new. Pretty much everything I've heard a guard say has been bullshit. That's just how it is here.

"Are they gonna freak about the blood on the wall?" she asks.

"Na. They don't give a shit if we're bleedin'," I reply, inspecting my bruised knuckles, "They're the ones that cause the bleedin' mosta the time."

I glance up at her bruised face. Seems like everyone's got bruises in here, from the guards or from each other. For Maddy it's practically routine that someone'll take a swing at her soon as we get outta the cell.

We both look up as we hear the door of the corridor open.

"EVERYONE UP!"

I fight to keep the snarl off of my face and the yellow out of my eyes as we get to our feet and stand by the bars. As we're so close to the door, we're always in the first few. Maddy goes first, turning around and pushing her hands through the gap between two bars so that the guard can fasten the cuffs around her wrists, then lifts her feet one at a time so that they can be loosely shackled together. The guard lets her out of the cell and chains her by a metal collar to the wolfblood in front of her. And then it's my turn.

It took a long time for me to stop fighting this, and even now my hands shake as he fastens the cuffs. I'm not going to cry, I decided that a long time ago. They chain me to Maddy, and then the wait begins.

Because we're always in the first few, there's always a wait as the lines grow behind us. Of course someone lunges, yelling, at Maddy, jerking the chain at my throat and then being pulled off and bashed over the head by a guard while my friend stands staring with rage in her eyes, unable to staunch the bleeding from her nose. I listen to the clash of chain and the shouting of those who haven't given in yet as I stare down at my plimsolls, fighting back the wolf, still shaking uncontrollably.

"ROLL CALL!"

I close my eyes; I can't do this.

"Two-three-zero-nine!"

"Present."

"Two-nine-zero-one!"

"Present."

"Three-two-seven-seven!"

"Present."

"Three-two-nine-seven!"

"Present."

"Four-three-seven-zero!"

"Present."

"Five-eight-zero-three!"

"Present."

"Six-zero-seven-two!"

I say nothing, hunching my shoulders and curling my hands into fists.

"Six-zero-seven-two!"

I'm not just a number, and I refuse to answer to one. There are footsteps down the line, drawing closer and then pausing beside me. A hand lashes out and grabs the front of my jumper. I open my eyes to see a woman's furious face.

"Can you read, girl?"

I nod slowly. They grab me by the hair and force me to look down at the number printed on my light grey jumper.

"Well? What does it say? Answer me girl, what does it say?!"

"Six-zero-seven-two," I mumble.

"Six-zero-seven-two. So next time I call you, you answer, don't you? Don't you?!"

"I'm not jus' a number! My name is Jana, an' I ain't answerin' to anythin' else!"

She lets go of my hair and slams her fist into my face. Blood trickles from my nose.

"DO YOU THINK I GIVE A SHIT WHAT YOU SAY YOUR NAME IS?!

A snarl comes over my face.

"Don't you growl at me, girl! And answer me when I ask you a question: do you think I give a shit what you say your name is?"

I'm silent, glaring at her with yellow eyes. After a few moments she gets impatient and slaps me across the face, repeating the question.

"...No."

"Do you think that the warden gives a shit what you say your name is?"

"No."

"That's right. Nobody gives a shit. So shut the fuck up about it."

She lets go of my jumper and walks back to the front of the lines.

"I'm not taking any shit from anyone else, so you all better answer the register."

She takes the clipboard from another guard and makes a mark on it with a pen.

"Six-zero-seven-three!"

Silence. Her eyes scan the lines, reading the numbers on our jumpers, and then settling on Maddy.

"Six. Zero. Seven. Three."

Maddy looks up, and then back at her feet.

"I… Present."

"Answer promptly next time. Six-eight-nine-zero!"

"Present."

This is one of the worst things about this place; losing our names. My mother named me Jana; it's the only thing I have left from her and the only thing I have left of mine.

There are others that refuse to answer to numbers, and they get the same treatment that I did, the same treatment that I get at every roll call. When the guard has checked off the last wolfblood on the list, they open the door and order us out. We start to move, dragging our feet and chains. Out of the corner of my eye I see the shocker in the nearest guard's hand. Those shockers are the only things keeping us in line, and he knows it; that's why he's gripping it so tightly, that's why he reeks of fear. There are wolves in this line who would tear him to shreds at their first opportunity, and others who would pass him by without a second glance if they could make it to freedom. Some days I don't know where I stand.

When we reach the gates to the courtyard, it's the same process in reverse. They remove the collar from my neck and push me through the first gate, and I lift my ankles to be unshackled before they remove the handcuffs.

The second gate opens and I step out into the concrete yard. There's dreary grey buildings on every side, but at least I can see the sky. It's the only opportunity that I get to see it, and it feels like a small ray of hope. They only let wolfbloods from the same age group out together, and it looks like the boys are already here. I scan the crowd for my packmate and spot him standing on his own. Our eyes lock, and he starts to walk over. Maddy appears at my side, and we head over to meet Rhydian. None of us run, although we want to. It's too suspicious if we run. As we walk, we silently rub the blood from our faces and necks.

When the three of us meet, we embrace each other without a word. As we break apart he gives us a half-hearted smile, one eye bruised purple.

"What 'appened to yer face, Rhydian?" asks Maddy.

"Held up roll call again."

I nod. "Same 'ere."

Maddy quickly glances over her shoulder towards the guards.

"So. Ya got any new ideas?"

"I dunno. It keeps coming down to the fact that the only way would be to organise a mass riot."

"An' no-one would give us a chance ta ask 'em ta help."

"Exactly."

"There mus' be a way!" I say desperately, "There's gotta be a way out!"

Rhydian puts his arm around my shoulders.

"There is, Jana. We just haven't found it yet."

I lay my head on the shoulder of the boy that I've come to see as my brother, fighting back tears. We've tried to escape three times now, and failed miserably every time. The thirst for freedom constantly threatens to drive us all insane, and I don't know how much longer I can cope.

After the thirty minutes we're allowed to see the sun is up the chains are put back on and we're hauled back into the windowless corridor of cells to be fed. Lunch is the same as breakfast, the same as every meal we're given. Low-quality dried dog food. They give it out in metal bowls most days, but sometimes they won't bother and just chuck our servings through the bars, or not feed us at all. It's gotten to the point that I can feel every one of my ribs.

Maddy and I have long since thrown away any dignity when it comes to eating this shit; it's this or starve. The guards won't do anything if we're starving, so in simple terms it's dog food or a slow, painful death. Some days I'm not sure which to go for.

I eat fast, both to get it over with quickly and to make sure that my bowl is empty before the guards take it off me. When I'm done I sit on my blue mat and chuck my bowl across the cell from me to the door, Maddy's clattering after it.

"Pick them up."

I don't look at the man standing on the other side of the bars. He's perfectly capable of picking the damn bowls up himself.

"Pick them up!"

I glare at him, veins tingling.

"Don't you flash your eyes at me, girl. You too. Get over here and pick up those bowls."

"Why can't you pick 'em up? Yer right en front of 'em!" I snap.

"Because I don't want to," he sneers, "so you're going to do it."

"We're not yer fuckin' slaves!" Maddy shouts. The man pulls out his shocker and taps it against the bars.

"Don't make me come in there."

I look over at Maddy, and we both get to our feet, walking over to the bowls and shoving them through the bars into the guard's hands. The smirk on his face makes me want to tear him to pieces, but he's still got his shocker out. Maddy stomps her way back over to her mat as soon as he's gone, but I stay by the bars until there's only two guards left, patrolling over the other end of the corridor. I walk over to the other end of the bars, kneel down next to the shallow metal dish bolted to the floor and scoop some of the metallic-tasting water into my mouth with my hands.

"Hey!"

I don't look up.

"Hey you! Red wolf!"

"What?" I snap, still looking down at the dish.

"Why do you stick up for her?"

I glare over at the wolfblood two cells over from us on the other side of the corridor, and recognise her as the one who tried to attack Maddy this morning.

"Why wou'n't I?"

"Because she's the one who got us into this mess!"

Oh lord, not this shit again. My blood boils as I spring to my feet.

"It weren't her fault! How fuckin' stupid are ya?"

"Don't you call me stupid!" She yells, "Face fucking reality mate, it was her DNA-"

"DO YOU THINK I WANTED THIS?" roars Maddy, who has appeared beside me, "DO YOU THINK I WOULD JUST GIVE IT TO THEM?"

The girl bares her teeth and we growl back, and then all at once my blood boils over and I'm a wolf, snarling and snapping, Maddy and the other girl doing the same, rearing up against the bars and not caring that we're causing a scene.

"GET DOWN!"

I don't realise that the guard is right in front of us until he's yelling in our faces, but we ignore him in our rage.

"GET THE FUCK DOWN!"

We continue to throw ourselves against the bars, but don't see him draw his shocker.

A sharp pain jolts into my shoulder and I yelp, jerking away from the bars and backing away to a safe distance, Maddy following.

"Now turn back."

We obey, and they move away. We sit down on our mats. I rub my shoulder where I was shocked.

"Did they get ya?" I ask.

"Nah. How bad's it?"

"Jus' a tap, it'll settle inna minute."

She nods, then starts absent-mindedly picking at the stuffing in a hole in her mat. She begins to scratch at her lower back with her other hand.

"Don'" I say, "you'll set me off."

I slip my hand under the back of my jumper and feel the four marks on either side of my spine. Six-zero-seven-two, burned there so that they can still identify me in wolf form. I shudder at the memory of that first dark moon when they branded us like cattle.

For hours we're left in our tiny cells, pacing, punching the walls, trying to rattle the bars, knowing that there's nothing we can do to get out.

Dinner, of course, is dog food. We're hungry again by this point, but our rations are never enough. When the meal is over, we're chained up again and there's another roll call, so I have a bloody nose by the time we're taken to the toilets. When we get there they unlock my chain from Maddy's collar, wrap it around my throat and lock it in place, then remove the handcuffs.

I can remember a time when flushing toilets were the most fascinating thing in the world to me. When I was enthralled by the human world. When I thought that I could find myself a place there. Now, of course, that's impossible. Even if they let us go free they'd never look at us in the same way again, I'm sure of it.

I knock on the cubicle door and they unlock it from the outside, watch me wash my hands in cold water and then cuff my wrists again and chain me back into the line.

There's another few hours of boredom in the cells before lights out, when the florescent lights all shut off at once and plunge us into total darkness. We're forbidden to speak or move around too much, and the result is a foreboding, still, silence; a sharp contrast to the forests that I grew up in.

During the night Maddy and I push our mats up against each other's and curl up together. Any reservations we had about doing this died long ago; we need each other to keep warm in our freezing cold cell and protect ourselves against the sheer loneliness that the darkness brings. The guards have gone from the corridor now, monitoring us via night vision cameras instead. As always it takes a long time for us to fall asleep.


	2. Solitary

The lights don't turn back on until they come to give us breakfast and top up our water dishes, and by this point I've been awake for an hour. As always I eat fast, as I kneel to drink from the basin bolted to the floor I notice the same wolfblood from yesterday glaring at me from her cell. I ignore her, knowing she's not worth another electric shock.

"She's givin' us that look again'," I mutter to Maddy as I sit down beside her.

"Who is?"

I nod towards the girl.

"Oh. Yeah."

She starts picking at the same hole in her mat.

"You ain't thinkin' that she's right, Mads?"

She says nothing.

"This weren't yer fault, Maddy! Don' believe 'em, they're jus' lookin' fer someone ta blame."

She doesn't look at me.

Three hours pass, and we're chained up in the corridor again for another roll call. Once again I ready myself for a beating, because I refuse to answer to a number.

The pain from a shock under my chin is still lingering when we're released into the yard. Once again the boys are already here, and we head over to Rhydian as soon as we see him.

"Hey guys," he says, "It's- _oh shit."_

"What?"

I hear them before I see them; a furious clicking of claws on concrete, heading straight for us. All thoughts of the consequences fly from our minds as we wolf out and run. We've barely gone ten meters when I hear a yelp beside me and turn to see that a great black wolf has closed their jaws around Maddy's leg. That's when it goes from a chase to a fight.

We have months of aggression pent up inside of us, and now is the time to release it. I throw myself into the fray and bite and shake and taste blood and feel distant pain, paying just enough attention to my surroundings to ensure that I don't hurt my own pack.

"BREAK IT UP!"

Of course, none of us comply to the guards. I'm in full on fight mode, and nothing will stop me now, not even a man that I barely notice stepping right in front of me. I hear a human roar of pain, and taste a different blood, then there's the thick wire around my throat jerking me backwards, the shock to my side and the command to turn back that I can't obey, the wire tightening to choke me and the sounds of my friends and enemies being dragged apart and hit and shocked.

It takes a few minutes for the pandemonium to end, and for my head to clear enough for me to realize that it's human blood that I'm tasting. A guard is holding me by a pole with a wire loop on the end tightened around my neck, dragging me towards the gates. I try to stop, to turn my head to see my packmates, but another guard loops another wire around my neck and starts dragging me too. I can't pull against both of them, so I have no choice but to follow.

They take me to one of the holding cells off one of the main corridors and fasten one of the metal collars chained to the wall around my neck.

"Turn back!"

I glance at their shockers, and then turn back to human form. Immediately they cuff me and chain my ankles, forcing me to my knees and removing the wires from my neck.

"I di'n't mean t' bite whoever that was! I-"

"Shut up, girl!"

One of them grabs me by the hair and holds me tight as I struggle, seeing out of the corner of my eye what they're going to do.

"Please, it was an accident! I di'n't realise-"

"Quiet!"

I try to squirm away, but they force the wire muzzle over my face and strap it on tight, pinning my jaw closed. I try to wrestle it off as they leave, but it's no use. The door slams shut. The chain on my collar is too short to let me stand or reach the bars, so I have to stay sat against the wall, watching my injuries from the fight add to the collection of bloodstains on my clothes, unable to stop the pain.

I'm not sure how long I've been here, but it's been a while. I know I said I wouldn't cry, but being muzzled is too much for me. I draw my knees up to my chest and hide my face in them, silent tears running down my face. When I hear them coming down the corridor, I try to wipe my eyes on the shoulder of my jumper and put on a brave face. They unlock the collar around my neck and replace it with one on the end of another chain, dragging me out of the cell and along the corridor. We stop at a wooden door. I know where we are now. One of the guards knocks on the door.

"Enter."

They take me into the room and make me stand in front of the desk. In front of the Warden. He looks up at me.

"Six thousand and seventy two. Bit officer Gorman on the leg."

 _It was an accident!_ I want to say, but the muzzle prevents it.

"Got in a fight too, yes?"

I don't move. He types something into his computer, then looks at me for a minute. I hold his gaze, knowing that he's trying to make me uncomfortable.

"Put her in solitary."

In some part of my brain I was expecting this, but it still comes as a shock. I try to writhe my way out of their grip when they grab me but they hit and shock me, bundling me out of the room and along the corridor. I can't go into solitary again, it's torture! It gets worse every time too, because you know you're going to loose it, and you can feel yourself losing it, but there's nothing you can do about it.

They open a door and push me down a narrow corridor, only wide enough for us to walk single file. When we get to the cells at the end they take off all my restraints and shove me through one of the metal doors, sliding it shut and locking it. I hammer on the door with my fists and shout, but I can hear them walking away. I sink down to the floor and hold my head in my hands; I've just about gotten used to my usual cell but this is too much. The room is only two meters across each way, completely empty and pitch black. My own little torture chamber, where I've been left with nothing but claustrophobia, loneliness, hunger, thirst, cold and discomfort until they decide that I've suffered enough.

I start to shake. The walls are closing in, I'm sure of it. I can't see them but I can _feel_ them, pressing in on me. The air is getting thicker and heavier too. I can't breathe. I howl, knowing that no one will hear me, and start to pace around in tiny circles. The quiet clicking of my claws is deafening in the silence.

How long has it been? I don't know; there's no way to mark the time in here. It feels like ages. I'm pretty sure dinner time has passed because I'm starving. I'm often hungry, but this is unbearable; it feels like my stomach is eating itself and my mouth is completely dry. I keep pacing, trying to push my hunger to the back of my mind. I tire eventually, of course, and after another age of pacing I fall to the floor and sleep.

I wake up in human form, even hungrier and thirstier than before. For want of something to take out my frustration on, I pull off my shoes, socks and jumper and shred them, throwing the scraps around and losing them in the dark only to find them later when I'd half-forgotten about them. I can feel which shreds of my jumper had the numbers printed on them, and I shred them all over again, furious at this place for numbering me like a prisoner, like I've committed some terrible crime.

My back is starting to itch. I reach over to scratch it, and I feel the numbers there too. Anger flashes across my mind. I don't belong to them, they have no right to brand me!

I have to shred the numbers. My nails turn to claws.

It hurts now. It's like when I split my knuckles against the walls in my cell: it doesn't hurt when I do it, only after. The tiny cell is full of the smell of blood, and I'm freezing, and I'm so hungry and thirsty that it hurts. Did I really deserve this, just for one bite, one accident? I've started to cry without realizing it, writhing in pain because that's all I can do, but soon I can't move anymore. I'm too weak, and I hate it. I'm getting tired again, but it takes a long time for me to sleep.

"Jana?"

The room somehow isn't so dark anymore, and I'm not alone either. I don't recognize her exactly, but she's not a complete stranger either.

"...Mam?"

She nods, laying a hand on my arm, but I can't feel it. I start to push myself onto my elbows.

"Don' try t' get up, love."

I try to take her hand.

"I can't feel you."

I look into her eyes.

"I'm dreamin', aren't I?"

She smiles sadly. "In a way."

I feel a tear run down my face.

"I miss you, Mam. Ev'ry time they hit me fer tellin' them me name I think abou' you an' I miss you. I wish you was with me, Mam."

"I am with you, love. You've bin so brave, Jana. I'm so proud o' you, an' I love you so much, don' forget that."

I'm crying harder now. "Dad hates me."

"Don' worry, love, you'll make up one day."

There's a degree of certainty in her voice when she says this that I can't help but believe, giving me a small moment of comfort. I curl myself up tighter.

"I'm so hungry, Mam," I sob, trying to reach out to her. She seems so sad looking at me.

"You'll have something soon, love, I promise," she says, trying to stroke my hair, "You'll be okay."

I try to shuffle closer to her, somehow feeling both comfort and emptiness when I touch her and feel nothing.

"They hate us 'ere," I sniff, "Jus' cos we're wolfbloods. I wanted so badly ta find a place in their world, Mam, but they hate us now."

"You'll find your place, Jana, I promise. They don' all hate us, love, there's still kindness out there."

I'm finding it hard to keep my eyes open.

"You need some sleep, love."

"No, Mam! I don't want to lose you!"

"You won' lose me, love. You'll be okay."

She lies down beside me. I move closer, expecting to feel nothing, but to my surprise warmth spreads from my chest as she wraps her arms around me. I fall asleep in her arms, and wake up alone as a key clicks in the lock of my cell door.


	3. Officer Massey

A thin shaft of light creeps into the room and spreads over my face, hurting my eyes. I shut them tight and cover my face in my hands, shivering a little. There's silence for a moment, and then footsteps approach me. I can tell by smell that they're a human man, but I don't recognize them. They crouch down beside me.

"Are you okay?"

Am I hearing things? Is this another dream? It must be, because there's no way a guard just asked if I'm okay. I take my hands away from my face and squint up at him, not knowing what to say.

"I guess that's a stupid question?"

I nod slowly.

"You must be hungry, right?"

I nod again.

He bites his lip for a moment, and then reaches into his pocket.

"I know I shouldn't be doing this, but…"

He holds out a cereal bar. "Just don't tell anyone, okay?"

I snatch the snack out of his hands and tear it open. It's the first proper food I've eaten here, and it's gone far too quickly. I struggle to sit up.

"Is that blood on your hands? And your shoulder, and leg, and arm?"

"...I was in a fight."

"Oh, yeah, they told me. What's your name?"

I look at him, bewildered.

"Jana."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

He's silent for a moment.

"What happened to your shoes and jumper?"

"I, uh… shredd'd 'em."

"Ok… Anyway, I need to take you to the wadern."

He stands up, and I slowly get to my feet. He cuffs my hands behind my back, but doesn't tighten them enough to pinch my wrists like the other guards do.

"That's an old bloodstain on your ankle, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

He puts the cuffs onto my ankles and then picks up a muzzle. I step back.

"No way."

"I have to, Jana. Don't make it harder for yourself."

"It's 'orrible! 'Ow'w'd you like bein' muzzled?!"

"I don't want to do this either, but that's what I was told to do."

There's no getting out of this. I take a deep breath, and then lift my chin.

"Go on, then," I say quietly.

He carefully buckles it on, and I feel a few tears escape my eyes.

"It's alright, Jana, you'll be fine."

He locks a metal collar in place around my neck and leads me back through the narrow corridor away from solitary. I'm glad to be leaving that place, but going to the warden is never good. The man doesn't speak, and the only sounds are our footsteps and the rattle of my chains. Before long we've reached the wooden door. The guard knocks twice.

"Enter."

He leads me into the office and leaves me standing in front of the warden.

"Six thousand and seventy two. I've been expecting her here for…" (he checks his watch) "five minutes now."

He looks over at the guard. "I suspect that she protested the muzzle?"

"She did, Mr Hartington."

Hartington nods. "I've been looking into her file, and it turns out that she was born wild." He gives me a disdainful look. "The wild ones are always particularly tricky."

Once again, I hold his gaze. My eyes are burning yellow; I can't hold it back while I've got this horrible muzzle over my face.

"But anyway, I digress. Six thousand and seventy two, you know why you were sent to solitary, don't you?"

I don't move for a moment, and then nod.

"Have you learnt your lesson?"

I stare straight ahead. This is part of the punishment, admitting they've beaten you down.

"Answer me, girl."

I don't have a choice. I nod slowly.

"Good. What happened to her jumper?"

"It was torn up in her cell. Her shoes and socks, too. She says she shredded them herself."

"Is this true?"

I nod. There's no point denying it.

"Right. She'll have a dozen lashes for that."

I tense up in anticipation. Being hit is common. I can deal with that. But actually being taken aside and beaten…

"Take her to Officer Massey. I'll send her a memo."

The guard leads me to the door.

"Wait."

We stop short.

"There's blood on her back. Are her brands affected?"

Shit, I forgot about that. I wince when the guard touches my bloody back as he lifts my shirt to show him.

"Bring her back in front of the desk."

I'm lead back to the middle of the room.

"I assume that you did this yourself."

I nod.

"And that you did it deliberately."

I nod. He glares at me and I glare back.

"She'll have twenty more lashes for that, and be rebranded next dark moon if those wounds have healed enough."

There's still a two weeks until the next dark moon, I know that I'll have healed by then.

"Take her to Massey now."

The guard leads me out of the room and a short way down the corridor into another. Massey looks up.

"Sixty-seventy two, is it?"

Massey is probably the only guard that we all know by name. She is, in a word, a sadist. That's why Hartington trusts her to hand out the beatings.

She checks her computer monitor.

"Wracked up thirty-two strokes total. I'm almost impressed."

The guard holding me hands my chain over to her.

"I'll radio you to take her back to her cell when it's done."

He nods and leaves, guilt written all over his face. I try to resist as Massey drags me over to the pole in the middle of the room, but she's strong for a human and she's not afraid to use her shocker.

"Come on, you little shit, behave yourself! I've got every right to beat you longer if you keep this up."

She makes me kneel up facing the pole, uncuffs my wrists and pulls my hands up above my head. The pole is lined with holes up its side and she slides a bolt through the one nearest my hands and fastens a thick shackle to either end of it, locking them around my wrists. I tug against them, but there's no point. The chain between my ankles stops me from getting up. I turn my head to watch as she picks up the long, thin cane.

"Stay still."

The first blow lands across my shoulder blades and I inhale sharply, immediately cursing myself for making a noise. I manage to stay silent for the next ones, forbidding myself from crying, my eyes shut tight. But the tears find their way out anyway and before long I'm sobbing quietly into my elbow, hating myself for breaking down but at the same time pitying myself for the pain I'm in. I can smell my own fresh blood again.

"And that's thirty-two."

She releases my wrists, pulls me to my feet by the collar, chains me to a ring on the wall and cuffs my hands behind my back while she radios for me to be picked up. For about five minutes I stand there shaking, wiping my eyes on my shoulder, parched, starving, my back stinging from the beating and the scratches from my time in solitary.

When the guard returns to pick me up he doesn't say a word to Massey, just takes my chain down from the wall and leads me from the room. He only speaks once we're alone in the corridor.

"I seriously just have to take you back to your cell?"

I nod, a little confused as to what he means.

"They're honestly not going to treat those wounds?"

I shake my head.

"Oh shit, you're all bloody! Are you going to be alright?"

I nod. I have to deal with my injuries because no-one's going to heal them for me.

When I'm unchained and put back in my cell I immediately drop to the floor beside the water dish and feverishly shovel the stuff into my mouth.

"Jana!"

Maddy runs over to me and hugs me close. I yelp as she touches my back and she hastily releases me.

"They put ya in solitary, di'n't they? I figured, after ya di'n't come back…"

"Yeah. 'Ow long was I gone?"

"Two nights. We 'ad lunch a while ago."

I nod, rubbing my jaw where the muzzle was.

"Did they take yer jumper an' shoes too?"

"Oh, no, they di'n't. Solitary got to me head, ya know, an' I tore 'em up. An' I ripp'd up me brands too."

"You- You what?"

"Tore up me brands. I wasn't thinkin' straight. So I got a beatin' for that, an' they're doin' the brands again nex' dark moon."

We're quiet for a bit.

"I di'n't reco'nize the guard 'o brought me outta solitary. Is 'e new?"

"Same one 'o brought ya in jus' now? Yeah, I firs' saw 'im yesterday."

"Well, he… He isn't too bad. 'E gave me a cereal bar ev'n tho' he knew 'e wasn't meant to, an' 'e used me name, an 'e di'n't force the muzzle on me, an' he seemed concern'd 'bout the gashes I got from the beatin'."

She nods. "I notic'd he doesn't do the cuffs up too tight."

I get up and sit on my mat instead.

"So what did they do to the res' of ya?"

"We all got a pretty bad floggin', an' no food for the res' of the day. There was four of 'em who went after us, by the way."

"I'm guessin' that kid 'o was glarin' at us was one of 'em?"

"Yeah."

I shake my head.

"Some people jus' don't know 'ow stupid they're bein'. If we're gonna get through this, turnin' on each other ain't gonna help."

Maddy doesn't reply.

 **Author's note: Sorry if I overdo the accents at any point, they're just really fun to write! Thanks for reading!**


	4. Branded

A week goes by before they replace my jumper, socks and shoes, and during that time I'm almost constantly shivering, especially during the nights and out on the yard. I've noticed that new wolfbloods are arriving more and more often, filling the cells, and soon the guards begin putting them in with complete strangers; Maddy and I were roomed together because we were taken prisoner together. Fights are breaking out in the cells more and more frequently now, and guards are handing out shocks, slaps and punches for almost nothing, but the man I met the day I left solitary - who I've learnt is called Ben Reed - never raises a hand to anyone.

"It's the dark moon tomorrow," Ben mutters as he hands me my dinner through the bars, "you nervous?"

"A little," I lie. In truth, I've been able to think of nothing else all day. The gashes in my back have healed completely, and the new skin has obliterated my brands entirely. I keep remembering when I was first branded. I didn't know what was happening then, they held me down and the next thing I knew there was a searing pain in my back. I wonder if knowing will make it better or worse.

"You alright, Jana?" Maddy asks as we lie down to sleep.

"They're gonna do me brands again tomorrow," I reply quietly.

"Oh. Yeah." She's obviously remembering the pain too. It takes us a long time to fall asleep.

The lights come on and the guards arrive too soon. The dark moon has drained the life out of us, but those of us who are on the list for branding are forced to get up and allow ourselves to be cuffed and chained together. I'm too tired to protest being called by a number at roll call.

They cram us all into a holding cell, still cuffed and chained together, only taking one to Massey's room. Because of all of the new wolfbloods that have been arriving lately, a lot of us are about to be branded and the cell is packed; we're almost sitting on top of each other. At first there's talking, as most people are oblivious to the situation and wonder why we've been brought here. Others know too well. But before long the cramped space falls silent as the dark moon grabs a hold of us once more, some even falling asleep sitting upright in their chains.

Gradually, one by one, a guard removes wolfbloods from the chain and takes them away. About a third of us are gone when he takes me. I'm exhausted, unable to struggle, and so I follow him quietly to Massey's room. My breathing is getting quicker and quicker as they remove my handcuffs and collar and tell me to take off my jumper. My hands are shaking as I reach for the hem. I hear the footsteps outside the door before anyone else, and I soon recognize his scent.

"Sorry I'm late," says Ben as he rushes in, "traffic was a fucking nightmare."

"Better late than never," Massey replies, "We're just getting this one ready. Go on, girl, take off your jumper."

I obey, saving my strength, and she tosses it over to the door. They cuff my hands in front of me, but when they try to muzzle me I start to fight back. For less than a minute I struggle, trying to cover my face with my hands, but it's three against one and I'm exhausted by the dark moon. Massey buckles the straps painfully tightly and they force me to the floor, on my front with my hands pinned under me.

"Hold her shoulders, Reed," says the man gripping my ankles. I squirm in their grip, too tired to throw them off but refusing to lay still and let them brand me. Massey pulls the back of my shirt up.

"The iron needs another couple minutes to heat up," Massey says, "hopefully she'll give in by then."

I struggle harder, determined to prove her wrong, but soon I'm too weak. I look up at Ben, terrified, hoping to find some reassurance in him. He looks down at me, and I know that he's scared.

"What's up, Reed?" asks the man pinning my ankles.

"I uh… I was just thinking…" he bites his lip for a moment, "is she… Is she going to scream when she's branded?"

"Why d'you think we muzzled her on a dark moon?" replies Massey.

"It's just a gag?"

"Call it whatever you want," says the other guard," She'll probably whimper a bit, but that's all."

"Anyway," Massey buts in, "I think it's ready now."

She tugs my shirt up further, then walks away to pick up the horrible instrument.

"Hold her tight. She'll probably start squirming again when I do it, so I'll count down from three each time."

I shut my eyes tight in anticipation.

"Three. Two. One."

I try to scream, but because of the muzzle it comes out as a high-pitched whine. Tears run down my face as she holds the scolding metal against my back, searing pain clouding my mind. She takes the branding iron off me and steps over me, positioning it to brand my other side.

"Three. Two. One."

Another burst of pain and I try to writhe out of their grip, but it's pointless. After they've held the iron against my back for a moment they pull me to my feet and remove the muzzle and handcuffs. When I've put my jumper back on and they've chained me up in the usual way Ben leads me out of the room.

"You alright, Jana?" he asks as soon as we're out of earshot.

"I'm fine."

He shakes his head.

"I can't believe they're doing this. It's barbaric."

I don't reply. There's nothing more to say, and in any case I'm exhausted. Maddy is asleep when I'm put into the cell, and I don't bother to wake her. Instead I lay down beside her and bite back the pain in my back, closing my eyes and remembering the feeling of warmth that my mother's ghost gave me.


	5. This is Wrong

Life in this place - in 'The Cage', as we call it - revolves around the moons. Of course, the life of a wolfblood revolves around the moon anyway, but this is a world away from before. The days of the dark and full moons should be days of rest or days of freedom, but here they are days spent starving, forbidden from seeing the sun, as they don't feed us on those days, or take us out to the yard. But - and it goes against everything I am to say this - the nights of the full moon are the worst.

I'm kneeling on the concrete floor, wishing I could drag my mat over but unable to because I'm restrained by the metal collar keeping me pinned by the neck to one of the bars, my hands cuffed behind my back and my ankles chained together. Maddy is held back in the same way at the other end of the bars. Neither of us can reach the water dish; we're parched and starving but there's still a tingle of excitement in my bones, hidden beneath the dread. Moonrise is fast approaching, and there's a buzz of anticipation in both the wolfbloods and the guards. As I feel myself getting stronger with the moon I start to struggle in my metal bonds, paying for it in shocks from the guard on the other side of the bars.

"Quiet down, girl!"

"Let me outta these chains!"

"What, so you can tear me to shreds?"

"No, I don' want ta 'urt ya! I jus' want me freedom…"

He doesn't answer me. There's nothing he can say. Instead he gives me a shock to the neck that lasts about five seconds, and I have to grit my teeth to stop myself from crying out in pain. I look across the cell and meet Maddy's gaze. Her eyes are brimming with tears of anger. We're forbidden from talking to each other, so we have to kneel in silence until sundown.

Even though we can't see the moon - we haven't seen it for months - we can feel it rise; the adrenaline rush is immense. The cuffs and ankle chains slip off as I turn but the collar holds firm, even when I throw all of my weight against it.

"Stay still!"

I won't stay still, I can't! The metal around my neck feels so _wrong,_ so _unnatural_ that I just have to get out of it. A spark of pain jolts into my nose and I yelp, trying to jump away but unable to.

"Stay. Still."

I continue to throw myself against the collar and the bars, bruising my throat and receiving shocks all over my body for it, but after a while I have to admit that it's pointless. I look down at my paws rather than over at Maddy, not wanting to see her with dull fur and dull eyes and ribs sticking out of her sides.

Hours drag by - the very opposite of what the full moon's hours should do. There's nothing to do but stand here, still parched, still starving. There's howling, of course, but it's a mournful sound rather than joyful as it should have been, and it is short-lived; snuffed out by the guards and their shockers. As I stand with my paws on the cold concrete and the collar at my throat, round and round my head floats a single thought: _this is wrong. This is wrong. This. Is. Wrong._

I start to thrash again, unable to stand it. I'm wild, freedom is such a huge part of who I am, and this is tearing me apart.

"Jana. It's okay. Just calm down."

I barely register Ben's voice beside me. I can't 'just calm down'. He doesn't understand, can't understand the pain of captivity for someone like me.

"Shh, shh, stay still. You're going to get yourself hurt."

I don't care. I don't care if I get hurt. The shocks on my skin and the bruising on my neck are nothing compared to the torture of being held prisoner. But even though I fight my collar all night, I'm still a prisoner the next morning.


	6. Laura

My neck aches when I wake up, slumped on the floor where I collapsed after they removed my collar. I feel like someone's choked me and left me to die, my breathing shallow, eyes half-shut.

"Wake up!"

The guard kicks me through the bars and I groggily sit up, massaging my throat with my hands. He tosses a handful of food through the bars - he's apparently too lazy to give out and collect in the bowls - and the little brown biscuits go skittering across the floor. We gather them all together by our mats and share them out equally; there's barely a mouthful each, and it does nothing to remedy yesterday's starvation. I'm exhausted from last night, and I'm almost asleep when the corridor's door opens again.

Ben enters, leading a wolfblood girl on a chain. Her hands are cuffed in front of her so that she can carry the rolled-up mat that she's clutching to her chest, her eyes blazing yellow seemingly without her noticing. I've seen this before, of course, after every full moon: kids who have just had their first transformation moved out of wherever it is they keep the younger ones and into this cell block. The surprise comes when Ben takes off her collar and unlocks the door to our cell.

"The place is overcrowded, so she's being put in with you two," he explains. The girl steps cautiously into the cell and Ben locks the door behind her before asking her to lift her feet so he can take off the chain, then turn around, drop the mat and push her hands through the bars to let him take off the cuffs. As Ben leaves, she cautiously picks up the mat - which has unrolled itself - by the corner and looks from one to the other of us, evidently terrified.

"We ain't gonna hurt ya," Maddy assures her, "Come an' sit down."

She hurries over, dragging her mat, and sits hugging her knees.

"My name's Laura," she says quickly.

"I'm Jana," I reply, "an' this is Maddy. You just turned for the firs' time las' night, di'n't ya?"

"How- How did you know that?!"

"Tha's why they've put ya in 'ere," Maddy explains, "it 'appens after every full moon."

"Oh, right," she says, "You'll have been here for longer than me, won't you?"

"How'd you know that?" asks Maddy.

"I'm in the nine thousands," she says, pointing to the number on her jumper, "And you're both six thousands."

I growl, mostly out of habit. I hate that fucking number so much that hearing any part of it is enough to put me into a foul mood.

"I'm sorry!" Laura exclaims, "did offend you?!"

I stand up, turn around and start punching the concrete wall.

"Jana," Maddy says firmly, "yer gonna 'urt yourself again."

"Fuck off."

Neither of them say anything else to me, but I hear them talking about me as if my rage has somehow made me deaf.

"I didn't mean to upset her…"

"It's not yer fault, Laura, she 'ates being called by 'er number."

"Oh, ok. I understand."

"No, ya don'," I growl, "ya ain't wild, are ya?"

"No! Are… Are you?"

I turn to face her again, my eyes bright yellow and my teeth bared.

"What do ya fuckin' think?"

She shuffles backwards, a horrified look on her face.

"But aren't you- Aren't they- ...Dangerous?"

I snarl again, and continue punching the wall.

"No, Jana's me friend," Maddy says firmly, "she's not going to 'urt us."

"Ok," Laura squeaks, evidently still nervous.

I give the wall one last hit and sit back down, trying not to glare at Laura. We can't turn on each other, especially if we're going to be shut in the same cell. For a while we sit in an awkward silence, no one quite knowing what to talk about.

"So," says Maddy, after what feels like an age, "what's it like where dey keep the kids?"

"Well," Laura quickly replies, obviously eager to break the silence, "the cells are a bit bigger, but there's eight kids in each. Each one is kinda like a mini dormitory, I guess. There was a cub in mine who couldn't have been more than four, called Sarah. One of the older kids sort of adopted her, but she still cried for her mum every night, so the guards would slap her. It made me wonder about my parents. I don't know what happened to them, I was arrested at school."

"At school?" I ask, not knowing if I'm pushing it too far but curious to hear the story.

"Yeah," she says, looking from one to the other of us and then sighing. "It's something to talk about I guess," I hear her mutter. She takes a deep breath.

"If I tell you what happened to me, will you tell me what happened to you?"

I look over at Maddy and nod. She nods back.

"Sure," she says to Laura, "it'll help us get to know each other better, right?"

Laura nods.

"Ok," she begins, "so I live - well, _lived,_ I guess - with my parents. I don't have any siblings. I was in year seven at school, and after the secret came out my family decided to just go on with our lives as if nothing was wrong, so people wouldn't get suspicious, and it worked for a while. But it was different at school. Suddenly no one wanted to be to quick in PE, or too interested in nature, or too tired on a dark moon. Everyone made plans on a full moon just to prove that they were human. It was hard, you know? Thinking all the time: how do I do this to look less wolfish? But of course the people who had cards were fine."

"Cards?" I ask, "what the fuck are those?"

Laura looks at me, perplexed for a moment, then glances over at Maddy as if asking for help. After a few moments I realise what she's thinking.

"I wasn't askin'- I know what a bloody card is! I mean, what're the cards you're goin' on about?"

"Oh… sorry," she says, sounding embarrassed, "people got blood tests to prove their species, and then they got ID cards that showed it. I think they're a legal requirement now, or will be soon. Anyway I didn't have one, of course, so I was one of the people that other people were suspicious of. No one trusted anyone anymore. It was terrible.

"So one morning - and I was in year nine by then - we were in form, and we were looking at the news on the computers. And someone read about how wolfbloods have a fear of fire."

She takes a deep breath before continuing with a shaking voice:

"They said it out loud. And my form tutor went over and read it. And then… she pulled out a lighter. She went around the whole form, holding it out, and my eyes flashed. I couldn't help it. What happened after is hard to remember properly because it was so confusing. People were shouting, the form tutor grabbed me, I was dragged across the room, someone punched me in the face, my friend was trying to help me, I think someone fainted. I ended up locked in the supply cupboard with the lights out. At first I tried to get out, I was yelling to be let out but no one would listen. After a while I sat down and took my phone out and messaged my parents and told them what had happened. I was locked in there for a few hours, and I messaged them the whole time. We knew that I was going to be taken away and there was nothing we could do about it, but they tried to comfort me. My friend - the one who tried to help me - messaged me too. She said that she didn't care that I'm a wolfblood or that I didn't tell her. She told me that I'd still be her best friend no matter what I was or were they took me. And she told me that she was going to join the small group of people who stand up for our rights. 'Cause there are people who care. Not many, but they're there.

"Anyway, eventually the police came for me. They took my blazer, tie and bag and searched my pockets. And then they chained me up: cuffs, ankle chains, collar, and even a muzzle - that was awful. I kept my head down while they were taking me out; people were trying to get a look at me and I didn't want to look them in the eyes. I was crying quite a lot, and that was when they shocked me for the first time. It made me yelp, so they slapped me pretty hard."

She pauses, absent-mindedly rubbing her cheek with one hand, staring at the floor.

"So they took me outside and threw me in a van. I'm guessing that it's pretty much the same as what happened to you from there."

She looks up at us.

"That's my story. So what happened to you?"

 **Author's Note: Sorry for not updating in a while. I've been trying to draw out a clear plan for where I want this to go so that I don't end up meandering around with no clear plot. I'm also working on setting up a deviant art page for illustrations, which may take a while as I want to make my images high quality. Thanks for your patience!**


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